January 2025
According to statistics published by the Ministry of Justice, in 2024, the number of public organizations in Belarus decreased by 576 compared to 2023.
Trials continue against former political prisoners and their relatives under Article 24.15, Part 2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses for allegedly violation of the legislation on foreign gratuitous (non-repayable) aid – receiving assistance in monetary and in-kind form.
The Investigative Committee announced the identification of 365 participants of protests abroad on the day of the so-called presidential elections and the initiation of criminal cases, including under Part 2 and 3 of Article 361-1 (creation of an extremist formation, joining such a formation with the aim of committing extremist crimes).
A number of religious communities have submitted documents for liquidation due to their inability to comply with the legal requirement of having 20 founders.
At the initiative of the Mogilev Region Prosecutor's Office, access to the website of the “Honest People” initiative has been restricted.
The Operational and Analytical Center (OAC) annulled the domain petitions.by. By order No. 6 of the OAC, changes have been made to the Instruction for registering domain names in the national domain zone of Belarus, providing for the annulment of domains that could harm national interests.
A number of NPO informational materials have been classified as extremist, including the REP Trade Union, the Patriot Sports Club, the Gronka crowdfunding platform, and others.
1,187 non-profit organizations in Belarus are in the process of forced liquidation, and 709 NPOs have made the decision to voluntarily dissolve.
February 2025
The administrative director of the BEROC research center, Pavel Daneyko, has been sentenced in absentia to 12 years in prison and a fine of 13,000 basic units (546,000 rubles) under three articles of the Criminal Code:
• Part 4 of Article 16 and Part 4 of Article 233 (organization and management of entrepreneurial activities carried out without a special permit (license)),
• Part 1 of Article 357 (conspiracy or other actions with the aim of seizing state power), • Part 3 of Article 361-1 (creation or participation in an extremist formation).
A number of NPO informational materials have been classified as extremist, including initiatives such as “Nastaunik.info”, “Teachers of Belarusian language and literature”, and others.
The Gronka crowdfunding platform, launched to raise funds to support Belarusian projects in July 2024, has been labeled as an extremist formation.
1,188 non-profit organizations in Belarus are in the process of forced liquidation, and 717 NPOs have made the decision to voluntarily dissolve.
March 2025
15 people – leaders and participants of the unregistered religious organization “IVDIVO” – have been detained and recognized as suspects in a criminal case initiated under Article 193-1 of the Criminal Code of Belarus (leadership and participation in the activities of an unregistered organization).
According to information from propaganda channels, after the actions on Freedom Day, 260 people were identified, and criminal cases are likely to be initiated against them.
The Belarusian Investigative Committee has initiated yet another (third) criminal case for “assisting extremist activities” against human rights defender and former political prisoner Leonid Sudalenko.
Access to the Legalize Belarus internet resource has been restricted by order of the Minsk Regional Prosecutor's Office.
A number of NPO informational materials have been classified as extremist, including the Digital Intelligence Team [bot], and organizations such as “Strana Dlya Zhizni” (Country For Life), “Garadzenskaja Pravaabarona” (Grodno Human Rights Defense), “Art Syadzyba”, and others.
“Nastaunik.info” public project, “Democratic Media Institute” (support for media projects related to Belarusian culture and identity), and the “Center for New Ideas” has been labeled as extremist formations.
1,188 non-profit organizations in Belarus are in the process of forced liquidation, and 729 NPOs have made the decision to voluntarily dissolve.
April 2025
The number of criminal cases related to participation in organizations designated as extremist formations is significantly increasing. For example, a criminal case has been initiated against Vladimir Shantsev, Acting Chair of the United Civil Party, for giving an interview on the YouTube show “Palitbomond” on the “6tv Bielarus” channel, which was declared an “extremist formation” by the KGB Chair’s decision dated November 29, 2023. A similar case has been opened against human rights defender Leanid Sudalenka for the same reason.
The General Prosecutor’s Office has submitted an application to the Supreme Court requesting that the “United Transitional Cabinet” and its structural subdivisions be designated as a terrorist organization and banned in Belarus.
A wide range of civil society organizations’ informational materials have been designated as extremist content, including materials from “Belarusian Youth Hub,” “Workers’ Movement,” the “ІншыЯ” initiative, “Union of Belarusian Mothers,” and the “Volnyia” initiative, among others.
Several organizations have been designated as extremist formations, including “Christian Vision”—a civic association uniting clergy, theologians, and activists from Christian churches in Belarus and abroad; the educational platform “Vasminoh: Education for Belarusian Children Today and Tomorrow”; the youth initiative “This is Youth” (Гэта Моладзь); and the initiative “Palitviazynka,” which provided support to women political prisoners.
1,189 non-profit organizations in Belarus are in the process of forced liquidation, and 737 ones decided to self-liquidate.
Мау 2025
The registration of new non-profit organizations within Belarus is extremely rare. In May, two new local public associations were registered—the first in 2025: the Public Feline Association "Club-MisterKoT" and the Youth Public Association "Sports Club Rym." A wide range of information materials produced by civil society organizations have been designated as extremist, including materials from the Youth Movement DoLGB, the Belarusian Hub in Warsaw, Honest People, and diaspora resources such as Belarusians in Lithuania 2.0, the Belarusian Community of Poznan, and others.
Several entities have been recognized as extremist formations, including the initiative "Partyzanka" (which helps Belarusians with legalization issues, primarily in Poland), the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Hramada), and the initiative "Belarusian Analytical Workshop."
The Investigative Committee (IC) announced that over 1,000 users registered in the app linked to the interactive platform "New Belarus," which has been declared an extremist formation.
1,190 non-profit organizations in Belarus are in the process of forced liquidation, and 746 ones decided to self-liquidate..
June 2025
By Resolution No. 319 of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus dated 10 June 2025, the grounds for inclusion in the lists of organizations, formations, individual entrepreneurs, as well as citizens of the Republic of Belarus, foreign citizens, or stateless persons involved in extremist activities were expanded to include a list of crimes of an extremist nature.
A wide range of information products of civil society organizations (CSOs) have been designated as extremist materials, including materials produced by the community “Belarusian Youth Hub” on the social network X, the “belhumanrightshouse” account on Instagram, as well as the informational resources of diaspora associations — including “Belarusians of Latvia” on Telegram, the “Belarusians of Vilnius” group on Facebook, and the webpages “MARA VERENIGING BELARUSEN IN NEDERLAND” and “MARA – Belarusians of the Netherlands” on Facebook, the “Belarusians of the Czech Republic / Belorusove v ČR / Belarusians in the Czech Republic” and “Association of Belarusians of Luxembourg” communities on Facebook.
Among those recognized as extremist formations are the petition platform Petitions.by and the educational project Adu.place.
1,196 non-profit organizations in Belarus are in the process of forced liquidation, and 752 NPOs have made the decision to voluntarily dissolve.
July 2025
A sentence of two years of imprisonment and a fine of 500 base units (21,000 BYN) was handed down for participation in the activities of an organization recognized as an extremist formation — an informal education organization promoting the methodologies of Swedish study circles, “Aktyŭnymi Być Fajna” (ABF).
The United Transitional Cabinet (UTC), along with its structural subdivisions, was declared a terrorist organization.
Leaders and adherents of the organization recognized as an extremist formation, the “Russian Orthodox Church – Tsar’s Empire”, were charged under Part 2 of Article 193 of the Criminal Code — organization and leadership of a religious organization encroaching upon the person, rights and duties of citizens.
Attempts by Belarusian security services to recruit activists located abroad have intensified.
The process of re-registration of religious organizations has been completed.
The Law of the Republic of Belarus of 12 July 2025 No. 86-Z “On Amendments to Laws on Ensuring the Rights of Children” significantly restricts the exercise of children’s right to association.
Access has been restricted to the websites of the human rights initiative “Human Rights Defenders Against Torture” (protivpytok.org) and the Russian human rights project “Memorial PZK” (memopzk.org).
A wide range of CSO informational materials have been recognized as extremist, including the content of the accounts “Ethnocentre Svitanak”, “brest.viasna” on Instagram, the “Association of Political Prisoners of Belarus” page on Facebook, the Instagram account “pressclubbelarus”, and the “Christian Vision for Belarus” page on Threads.
Among those recognized as extremist formations is also the initiative “Belarusian Academy” — a civic initiative established in response to waves of repression against Belarusian education.
1,207 non-profit organizations in Belarus are in the process of forced liquidation, and 756 NPOs have made the decision to voluntarily dissolve.
August 2025
A sentence of three years and six (seven) months of imprisonment and a fine of 1,000 base units was handed down to three participants of the initiative “Pismo.by”, recognized as an extremist formation — a service that enabled the sending of letters to places of detention.
A sentence of 7.5 years of imprisonment under Part 1 of Article 356 (high treason) and Part 1 of Article 243³ (tax evasion resulting in large-scale damage), along with a fine of 25,000 BYN, was issued for preparing a sociological study commissioned by a foreign organization.
The founders of the solidarity funds BYSOL and BY_Help were convicted in absentia and sentenced to 18 years in a penal colony and a fine of 6,000 base units (252,000 BYN) each, including on charges of establishing or participating in an extremist formation and financing extremist and terrorist activities.
A journalist was sentenced to three years of imprisonment for participation in the activities of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, recognized as an extremist formation.
Criminal cases on charges of assisting extremist activities were initiated against 207 participants of the Freedom Day celebration abroad in 2025.
A wide range of information products of civil society organizations were recognized as extremist materials, including the websites “Belarus Beehive” and “Belarus Beehive 2.0”, the Instagram accounts “pressclubbelarus” and “defenders.by”, as well as the websites and social media pages of the European Humanities University (EHU).
Among those recognized as extremist formations are the coalition of initiatives “Green Network”, which includes the projects “Belarus Beehive”, “Zeleny Portal (Green Portal)”, “Ecohome”, and the Belarusian Association of Human Rights Lawyers.
1,209 non-profit organizations in Belarus are in the process of forced liquidation, and 757 NPOs have made the decision to voluntarily dissolve.
September 2025
An application was submitted to the Supreme Court by the Office of the Prosecutor General seeking to recognise the European Humanities University (EHU) as an extremist organisation.
The founders of the solidarity funds BYSOL and BY_Help, Andrei Strizhak and Aleksei Levonchyk, were included in the list of persons involved in terrorist activities.
A wide range of information products of civil society organizations were recognized as extremist materials, including the website and information content of the Instagram account “ethno.art.by” and its logo, the Instagram account “spb_belarus”, the social media pages of “Fem Group Belarus” and the “Fem Group” YouTube channel, the Facebook community “Centre of Belarusian Solidarity / Centrum Białoruskiej Solidarności”, the Facebook account “MChD — Maladyya Khrystsiyanskiya Demakraty (Young Christian Democrats)”, as well as materials from various diaspora associations.
Among those recognized as extremist formations is also the Belarusian Economic Research and Outreach Center (BEROC).
1,211 non-profit organizations in Belarus are in the process of forced liquidation, and 759 NPOs have made the decision to voluntarily dissolve.
October 2025
Nikolai Katselapov, co-owner of the Wargaming company, who was included in the list of persons involved in terrorist activities, was sentenced in absentia to 13 years of imprisonment in a penal colony and a fine of 50,000 base units (2.1 million BYN) for allegedly making donations amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency transfers to various so-called “extremist and terrorist funds.”
A wide range of information products of civil society organizations were recognized as extremist materials, including a Facebook page, Telegram channels, the YouTube channel “Врачи за правду и справедливость» (Doctors for Truth and Justice), materials posted in the Facebook group «Рух «За Свабоду» (Movement ‘For Freedom’), the “Budzma” page on the Ko-fi online fundraising platform, the TikTok channel “Budzma_razam” and the YouTube channel “Будзьма дзецям” (Budzma for Children), as well as information materials from a number of diaspora associations.
Among those recognized as extremist formations is also “Fem Group Belarus”.
1,214 non-profit organizations in Belarus are in the process of forced liquidation, and 763 NPOs have made the decision to voluntarily dissolve.
November 2025
By Resolution No. 672 of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of 25 November 2025, among the requirements established for legal entities seeking to conduct public opinion polls and disseminate their results in the mass media, on Internet resources, and news aggregators, a new requirement has been introduced: the absence among the property owners of such legal entities, their participants or managers, of persons included in the lists of organizations and individuals involved in terrorist and extremist activities.
A wide range of information products of civil society organizations were recognized as extremist materials, including the Instagram page of the Viasna Human Rights Center hotline, the Instagram page “getdonatehelp”, the Telegram channel and Instagram pages “Розовые Косынки/Ружовыя хусткi” (“Pink Scarves”), the Facebook page “Вольны Беларускі Ўніверсітэт / Free Belarus University”, and the TikTok page “Maladaya Hramada”.
Among those recognized as extremist formations is also the volunteer association “Сустрэча” (“Meeting”), a community of Belarusian volunteers in Ukraine.
1,216 non-profit organizations in Belarus are in the process of forced liquidation, and 768 NPOs have made the decision to voluntarily dissolve.
December 2025
The criminal prosecution of representatives of civil society organizations for allegedly facilitating extremist activities, participating in extremist formations, and financing civic initiatives continues.
A wide range of CSO-related information materials were recognized as extremist, including the TikTok account “Disident”, the Telegram channel “Belarusian PEN”, the website prisoners.spring96.org, which publishes the current list of political prisoners as well as former political prisoners, the Instagram page “belhelcom” , the website of the Swedish International Liberal Centre, as well as a number of pages of the Council of Europe website related to the Conference of International Non-Governmental Organizations.
In total, 324 entities have been included in the list of extremist formations. Among those recognized as extremist formations in December are the art space “Sklad Butylak” (“Bottle Warehouse”), the initiative “Da Zorau” (“Towards the Stars”), and the knightly club “Borysfen.” Several individuals allegedly involved in these so-called extremist formations have become defendants in criminal cases and have been detained.
1,220 non-profit organizations in Belarus are in the process of forced liquidation, and 769 NPOs have made the decision to voluntarily dissolve.